They, along with the 43 existing municipalities, will elect new mayors and municipal assemblies in local elections scheduled for 20 November, the official told Radio Mozambique on Tuesday.

Namashullua was speaking in an interview in Inhassoro, in the southern province of Inhambane, at the opening of a Coordinating Council meeting by her Ministry which had made efforts to endow new municipalities created in 2008 with resources to build the basic infrastructures for their operations.

“The same exercise is guaranteed for the municipalities created in 2013, which will receive U$2.5 million in 2014, just for the construction of basic infrastructures” she added.

The amount provided for the towns that received municipal status in 2008 was 50 million meticais “and the results of this effort are now visible”, she said.

Namashalua said other priorities include implementing the government’s five year programme (2010-2014), and the Strategic Plan from the Local Administration Sector (PESAL) which involves speeding up the building of infrastructures for local state bodies outside the municipalities.

“The efforts made by the government in this area made it possible to build or rehabilitate 1,570 infrastructures for local state bodies from 2010 to the first half of 2013” she remarked adding that 318 buildings have been constructed this year with 126 already rehabilitated.